Craved by the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons 8)

With that, Brenna dashed down the hall and toward the great hall again.

Her dragon would say she was being a coward. And this time, Brenna agreed. But she had to keep her distance. The thought of becoming the doting fool she'd been with Cedric made her stomach churn. Only once she'd achieved her goal of becoming either the second-in-command or head Protector of a dragon clan would she allow herself a chance to fall for a male, and not before.

Picking up her pace, she pasted on a smile and entered the great hall.

Chapter Two

Killian watched Brenna exit the room before he glanced down at his hand. The tip of Aaron's finger had turned into a sharp clawlike thing that reminded him of a bird's talon. Considering humans couldn't do that, it should've scared him.

However, the bastard extending the talon and making threats didn't seem anything out of the ordinary.

It was one thing for everyone to tell him he'd been a dragon-shifter. But it was another thing entirely to accept it.

Given his supersensitive hearing, sense of smell, quick healing ability, and almost indifference to flashing pupils and fingers turning into claws, Killian was starting to think he had been like one of these strange dragon people.

If only he could remember something from his life before waking up a little over a week ago.

He'd been putting off asking about who he had been out of anger. He still wouldn't give a bastard like Aaron Caruso the satisfaction of telling him who and what he'd been. Brenna, on the other hand, would tell him the truth and hopefully not try to force it.

He nearly barked a laugh at how quickly the day had changed. One moment he'd wanted to kiss the living shit out of Brenna and take her against a wall. The next, he was toying with the fact he wasn't human after all.

Not that he was going to dwell on it for the time being. Brenna had tempted him with a dance. And while he couldn't care less about formalities or following protocol, he wasn't going to pass up the chance to hold the strong, beautiful female close.

After striding down the corridor and to one of the side entrances of the great hall, Killian stood in the doorway and took a second to watch the scene inside the room.

Everyone wore some shade of green. The women were in one-shoulder dresses like Brenna's and the men were in something resembling a kilt, with part of the material tossed over one shoulder to cross over their bare chests.

The dancing area was in the center of the room, with tables along the edges, filled with people eating, drinking, and laughing.

If what he'd been told was true, almost every single person in the room could change into a dragon. One misstep and any number of them could pin him down and threaten him with talons.

However, his gut told him they wouldn't do that unprovoked. Over the last week and a bit, he'd learned to trust his gut over most anything else.

Putting aside his observations, he moved again. Brenna would be a welcome distraction.

Since she was the only female in a red dress, she was easy to spot, and he made a beeline for her.

As he closed in, he couldn't help but stare at her long neck and the place where it met her shoulder. He wanted nothing more than to come up behind her and nibble the spot before slowly licking the sting with his tongue. No doubt her scent would be strong there, and hers was one he’d never tire of.

Fuck, he wanted her. More than his memories, he wanted the feisty yet vulnerable female naked and under him. He could too easily forget about everything but her soft, warm presence as she came, squeezing his cock tightly until he joined her.

She might think sex was off the table, but Killian knew she was as attracted to him as he was to her. He would find out the reason for the flash of wariness earlier, when they'd been alone. Someone had hurt her, he was certain of it.

He nearly missed a step. Apparently he'd been able to read facial expressions and emotions in his previous life. Add in the muscles and scars of his body, and he wondered if he'd been one of the dragon warriors he'd heard mentioned once or twice. Although why they used a pretentious name like Protectors, he had no idea.

Careful to keep his steps light, he was nearly to Brenna when her shoulders straightened and she looked back at him. "If you're trying to be stealthy, you're doing a horrible job."

"Maybe I'm just trying to practice some of my moves en route, to prepare for our dance."

She closed the distance between them and tilted her head. "You're a terrible liar."

He wanted to ask if he'd been a good one before, but resisted. Instead, he reached out and placed a hand on her lower back. "You should be praising to the sky how lucky you are, then. I'm told honesty makes for the best couples."

"There is such a thing as being too honest."

Not caring who stared, he raised a hand to her hair and lightly brushed some of the short strands. "Such as if I mentioned how you have a tiny mole just past your hairline and suggest we take a look to see if any hair is growing out of it."

"You have one on your lower back, so maybe we should check yours first."